


Love’s Stories Written in Love’s Richest Book

by LarryWitch



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Castles, Cats, Immortality, Libraries, M/M, Magic, Reincarnation, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:14:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarryWitch/pseuds/LarryWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Born from a long line of witches, Louis Tomlinson works in a library that happens to hold some of the most powerful books in the world.  From the time he was born, he dreams of a strange man with green eyes, always just out of reach.  </p><p>Suddenly, his dreams get less foggy, and a stunning man named Harry Styles enters the library and turns Louis' life upside down.</p><p>Or:<br/>Louis is a witch, Harry is a witch, there's a lot of longing, sweet spells, reincarnation, and a rude cat named Shadow.  </p><p>A (somewhat) Witches of East End AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love’s Stories Written in Love’s Richest Book

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So, this fic is my baby, pretty much, and I'm super excited to finally be posting the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it<3

Louis sat up in the bed, breathing harshly and shivering as cold air hit him. His cheeks were wet with tears, and the covers of the bed were pushed down, exposing him to the cold and dreary air of his home. 

He sighed and closed his eyes, and wrapped his arms around himself. It was always the same after the dreams. He always woke shivering and feeling as if something was missing from inside of him—an aching in his core. He sniffled and pulled the covers up over his legs. Rain was beating against the windows and he noticed the electric clock on his dresser wasn’t working. The power was out. 

He knew, from past experience, that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep after having a dream like the one he just had. He waved his hand and let his energy flow, lighting the few candles spread around the room, giving it an even eerier appearance. 

Shadow hopped up on his bed, meowing and purring for attention. “What are you doing up, you spoiled brat of a cat,” Louis said, smiling and picking up the young black kitten. Shadow meowed some more and laid on Louis’ lap, purring and promptly going to sleep. “At least one of us can sleep tonight,” Louis mumbled. 

He’s had the same dreams ever since he was a child. Sometimes they were more vivid than others, but they all involved Louis and a man. The man was tall, had dark hair, and green eyes. That’s all Louis could tell about him.

The dreams always took place in different places and times. The oldest setting Louis ever saw them in was the Virgin Queen’s court, and that had been… more or less frightening. He believed in past lives—he almost had to with the information his mother gave him when he was six and started showing signs of magic. 

But his mother couldn’t tell him much about his dreams. Only that they were memories of his past lives, easier for him to see because of his magic and that they must be important to his soul. He knew that he loved the man—had known that since he first had a dream about him.

Louis laid back in bed and tried to remember what happened in the dream he had woken up from minutes before. It might have been a new one—sometimes he had repeats. In this one… he remembered being tickled by hair on his face. Not his hair, but the other man’s. He couldn’t tell where (or when) they were, but he could smell something musky. Louis swallowed and realized that he had the taste of the man in his mouth. It happened, occasionally. He would wake up to the taste of some kind of fruit, or with small bite marks across his body. Sometimes he would wake up and his whole house smelled like the man from his dreams.

He closed his eyes and focused on the taste, not wanting it to disappear, and his heart ached. 

~

It was seven when Louis finally picked up Shadow and sat him down beside of him. 

“I have to get ready for work, sourface,” he said, and the cat just yawned and stood up, following Louis into the bathroom. Louis took a quick shower and dressed, left Shadow some breakfast, and walked out into the mist, heading for work.

Working at a private library wasn’t too bad. Mostly he found books for members of the club it serviced, and when he wasn’t doing that, he shelved. When he had free time, though, he peeked through the old books to find spells and potions. The library he worked in was weird, and the people that owned it and looked at books from it were stupidly rich, but he was able to find spells that helped him with his everyday life. There were _thousands_ of books there, and Louis wondered if he’d ever get to even see all of them.

Potions were tricky. Making them wasn’t tricky, but usually finding the ingredients for them was. Louis often had to go online to find them, and sometimes he even gets scammed, but when the ingredients were right, and the potion worked… it _worked_. 

Louis also will admit that he does a few curses and jinxes. Some days he’s just pissy, and that jerk who almost ran him over _deserved_ having his tire go flat the next morning. He never does anything too life threatening, only uses them to give small inconveniences.

He walked into the library and was assaulted by the smell of old, musty books. It was still early, and he didn’t have a patron appointment until nine, so he busied himself with making coffee and shelving a few books. He got a text from Liam, asking for a love spell again, and as soon as he was done replying “ _just ask her out you dumbass_ ,” the bell to the library opened and his first appointment walked in.

~

At noon, Louis locked up the library and walked home to feed Shadow and have lunch. He didn’t have another appointment until two, so he pulled out the photocopies of the spells he found today while munching on some chips. 

The spells were simple enough, but he was still nervous about them. They were used to increase the amount of dreams one had. 

Louis wanted more time with the green-eyed man.

“Shadow,” he yelled, watching the cat walk over to him, “you’re going to help me with this tonight, yeah?” The cat meowed and Louis laughed. “All I need is some lavender, catnip, and a few drops of my blood. Yuck.” He scrunched his face up. Blood magic kind of freaked him out, but his mom taught him the right way to do it from a very young age.

Shadow rubbed against his legs as he finished his lunch. “It’s about time for your catnap, sleepyhead,” Louis whispered, picking up the cat and setting him on his warm spot on the couch. Shadow was purring when Louis left back for the library, and the sun had started to come out.

~

That night, Louis pricked his finger and let two drops of blood fall into the cauldron he set up. He closed his eyes and let his intentions come out. 

“Help me dream. Help me see,” he whispered, and heard sizzling in the cauldron. When he opened his eyes, a small puff of red smoke rose from the cauldron, and he smiled, feeling sleepy. If the spell worked, he should fall asleep soon, and dream of the man with the green eyes. Shadow purred from his seat on the altar, and Louis gently picked him up and took him to the bed.

“We’re going to sleep great tonight, sweetie,” he mumbled, already feeling his eyes droop. He hardly was able to strip down and fall into the bed before he fell into slumber, a smile on his lips.

~

Louis woke with a start the next morning. The first thing he recognized was that he was freezing, and the second thing he noticed was that he had bite marks on his arms and legs, and even his chest. He wondered what his neck looked like.

The dream from the night before was so vivid; he could still almost feel the man on his fingertips, the long hair he had held so tightly. They had been making love—slowly, passionately, and Louis felt his cheeks heat at the ghost of the man’s length inside of him, driving into him and bringing him to orgasm. He turned around and saw Shadow staring at him with unamused eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that!”

The cat started purring, and Louis rolled his eyes. He was in need of a cold shower.

After his shower, Louis was able to think more clearly. He had gotten information from the dream that he had never known before. The man was tall, with dark, silky hair. His face, other than his eyes, was still almost a blur, but Louis remembered the way he felt against his fingertips, the hard muscles he pressed his fingers into, and the feel of silk against his naked body.

~

Louis went to work that day, knowing he didn’t have any appointments but wanting to look at more spells, wrapped up in a coat and a scarf. October was nearing it’s end, and the temperature continued to drop. 

He looked towards the moors and felt a longing deep within his chest. He always felt it when he looked there, but for some reason today it was more painful and sharp—and heavy, almost, like iron.

He looked away from them and continued his walk to the library. 

When he got there, he plugged his phone in and turned on some music, happy to have a day to himself to just research. While the music was playing, he hummed along and went to work shelving books, trying to get it done quickly so he could devote the rest of his day to finding a spell that will give him more clarity.

He didn’t expect the bell to ring and for the door to the library to open.

Turning around quickly, Louis frowned. The tall man who stood in the doorway was smiling, looking around in almost awe, and Louis didn’t recognize him. His mouth filled with the taste of fruit. Something about the man was familiar.

“Sorry, sir,” Louis started, “we are not a public library, you must be a member of—”

“That’s not a nice way to greet your new boss, now, is it?” the man said, his voice deep and rich. Louis crossed his arms and squinted at the man, who was still wearing sunglasses and his coat.

“I know who my boss is, and I think it’s time for you to leave,” he said, walking closer to the dark haired man. “I surely would have gotten an email about a new owner,” and as soon as the words left his mouth, his phone binged with a notification of an email. The man smiled and took his glasses off.

“I’m assuming that you’re Louis Tomlinson, correct?”

Louis looked at his phone, biting his lip when he saw that the library _did_ in fact have a new owner. It was so sudden, and strange, and Louis looked at the taller man again. “And you are?” he asked, a certain bite to his voice.

“Harry,” the man—Harry—said, taking off his coat and walking farther into the library. “I’m… looking for something, and I have reasons to believe that it’s in this library.” He ran his hands across the spines of old, dusty books, humming to himself. “And it’s an added bonus that you are here to help me.”

Louis felt heat rise to his cheeks. “What makes you think the thing you’re looking for is here?” he asked, going back to the books that still needed shelving.

“I’m almost positive it’s here, actually,” Harry said, pulling out a book and opening it, careful not to damage the spine. “How old are you?”

The librarian turned back to him. “What are you looking for, _exactly_?” he asked. Harry just laughed and put the book away.

“Just do as I say and I’m sure I’ll find it.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Look, I need to know what I’m going to be doing here? What about the club?”

“I am the sole person who can come in here, now—other than you, of course.”

Louis’ mouth opened wide. So not only did this man buy the library, but he bought out the club, too. 

“Don’t be worried, though. I’ll be paying much more than that awful club paid you,” he said as he walked up to Louis. “Shorter hours, better pay, and less old men who want to research their family history before they die.”

He turned around and began to walk out of the door. “See you tomorrow, Louis.”

“What am I to do for the rest of the day?” Louis asked, hoping Harry didn’t want him to lock up before he could even do his research.

“I don’t mind if you use the library for personal reasons, you have a key—come and go however you please.”

~

Louis walked into his small cottage, papers almost flying out of his hand because of the wind. As soon as Harry had left the library, it started storming furiously. Louis was soaking, and Shadow looked as if he was laughing. He quickly stripped out of his clothes and hopped into a warm shower, thinking of which spell to use tonight.

They were all pretty simple, and Louis wanted to try each of them, but for now he was just going to the easy spell that granted him more wisdom when it came to his sight. He sighed in the shower, looking down and noticing his cock had chubbed up with the thought of seeing the man in his dreams again. He slid his hand down and began stroking it lightly, remembering the dream he had the night before.

The man had strong arms, and Louis recalled the tight grip that held onto his own arms in the dream. He was being held down, but not against his will, and his cheeks blushed as he remembered how _ruined_ he looked and felt. His cock twitched in his hand, and he moaned out, beginning to stroke it harder and faster, wiping his thumb across the tip. In his dream he looked like he was being wrecked, and enjoying it. He could tell that the man was strong—powerful, and the thought of him being controlled by the man brought Louis to orgasm. He moaned out loudly, shaking as he continued pumping his member until it was too much to bear, and he whimpered as he let it go. 

He quickly washed up and got out of the shower, still breathing a bit heavily, wrapping a fluffy towel around him while he brushed his teeth for bed. He could hear Shadow outside of the bathroom door, meowing and talking to him, wanting proper attention. The young witch rolled his eyes and slipped on a pair of sweats, and then took the cat to the bedroom with him to get some rest.

~

_“Baby, can you feel me? You’re so close. I can feel you. Always can.”_

Louis woke up, tears streaming down his face. Shadow stretched and meowed at him quietly, feeling Louis sadness. This was the first time he heard the man’s voice. It was like he was _right there_ , whispering into Louis’ ear. His voice was low, and soft—velvet. It was familiar in a way Louis didn’t recognize. Louis shivered, suddenly realizing that he was cold.

The window to his bedroom was open.

Louis jumped up from his bed and ran to the window, closing it before the rain blew in. He looked outside, but couldn’t see anything other than the rain bleating down on his small yard. The windows began to fog up, and he sighed. Looking back at his bed, he saw that Shadow had taken his warm spot. “Rude,” he muttered, and pulled on a fluffy robe from the closet. It wasn’t terribly late, so he decided to get himself some tea and hopefully calm his nerves.

He was shaking as he poured the tea into his favorite mug.

The dream wasn’t very telling. It was mostly foggy and gray, but the voice was as clear as bells, and he could almost feel breath tickling his face when he had heard it. It was almost alarming, really—waking up with your window open after hearing someone whisper into your ear. If Louis wasn’t a witch he’d have thought someone had snuck in. 

Sipping on his tea, Louis walked over to the couch and sat. He heard the tiny _pat pat pats_ that let him know Shadow was making his way over, his claws tapping on the hardwood floor of the hallway. He sat his tea down and turned on the television, wanting a distraction from the dream.

~

When Louis showed up at the library the next day, Harry was already there, holding a mug of tea in both of his hands and squinting at some books.

“Good morning, Harry,” Louis said, setting down his bags and walking closer to his boss. “What are the plans for today?”

Harry hummed his hello and took another sip of tea. “Just want to get aquatinted with the place today, honestly,” he said, setting his cup down. He had his hair pulled back in a bun, and was wearing clothes that probably cost more than Louis’ house. He was very attractive, Louis thought, and then shook his head subtly.

“The more I know about the library, the easier it will be for me to find it,” Harry muttered, almost to himself. He looked around at the tall bookcases filled with ancient texts.

“What exactly is… _it_?” Louis asked, “And why are you so bent on finding it?”

Harry walked towards the spiral staircase in the center of the room, smiling. “It’s… it belonged to my family for generations, but it was stolen from us a very long time ago.” Louis gave him a skeptical look. “I need it, like air, really,” Harry continued, his boots clacking on the metal stairs as he walked up them. “And I can’t tell you too much, so please, just trust me and do what I ask of you.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “How am I supposed to trust you? You came in here and swooped up the place, hardly introduced yourself, and now you’re telling me to just blindly do what you ask? For all I know, you’re looking for something dangerous.”

Harry laughed at that. “I’m sure it can be dangerous,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “How many books are here?” he asked, changing the subject.

Sighing, Louis walked over to a bookshelf. “Last time I did inventory was a few weeks ago, and it’s well into the thousands. We’ve gotten some new books in that I haven’t counted yet, so I can’t tell you the exact number.” He looked up at Harry to see the man staring at him, as small smile on his lips. “What?” Louis asked, blushing a tad.

“Do you know you’re way around here?”

“I am offended you’d even ask.”

~

The day was mostly spent showing Harry the different sections of books, how the numbering system worked, and pulling out a few to show him special markings or words to look for. 

“This is a first edition, see?” Louis pointed out to Harry, sitting beside him at a table. “Very rare—beautiful, really.” Harry hummed and flipped the yellowed, crinkly pages. “The author was known for his work with several key leaders during the civil war in America.”

“If this is an American book, why do we have it?” Harry asked, closing the book. Louis shrugged.

“Some of the past clients have interests in American history, and some were American themselves.” Louis took the book out of Harry’s hands and handed him another. “This is also a very rare one,” he said, and flipped it open carefully. “The diary of one of the first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem.”

Harry practically snatched the book from Louis’ hands, to which the librarian shouted, “Hey! That thing’s very old, handle it carefully!”

Waving his hand in a dismissive manner, Harry flipped through the book. “This is amazing, Louis!” he said, squinting a bit at the faded handwriting. 

“We have everything from occultism to royal cookbooks,” Louis said, smiling a bit. “It’s quite wonderful, actually. I love walking in here for my job everyday, and that’s not something most people can say.”

Harry nodded and put the book down. “It’s a beautiful library. I’m glad I found it. I had been searching for years and—”

His sentence cut off and he shook his head, and Louis was very confused. 

“So,” Louis said, trying to get Harry at ease again, “what do you do as a job?” Harry’s lip twitched, almost making a smile, but he schooled his features in quickly.

“I don’t have one, really.”

Louis raised his eyebrows. “Then how do you buy an entire library?” Harry just laughed and waved his hand.

“I have my ways.”

“You’re not some international drug dealer or something like that, right?” Louis asked, smiling. He couldn’t deny that Harry was quite charming, and very mysterious. He looked up at him and saw the man staring at him fondly. “What?” he asked, looking down at his shirt to make sure he didn’t have it on inside out, or had spilled tea all over himself this morning on his rush to get out the front door.

“Nothing,” Harry mumbled, “You’re just cute.” Louis felt himself blush. “I think that’s all for today, at least for me,” the man got up and stretched his arms out, his stomach peeking out when his shirt rode up, and Louis’ eyes widened at the laurel tattoos he found there. 

He was sure his cheeks were even redder, now. 

Harry seemed to notice and quickly pulled his shirt down, smirking. “See you tomorrow, then!”

~

After Harry left, Louis’ put on some music and went to shelving the books he had pulled out for Harry to see earlier. The man was very interested in the occult, and occult history, and Louis had to wonder about what his intentions were. 

“It belonged to his family…” Louis muttered to himself, looking at the book in his hands. The leather was worn and old, and he traced the marked burnings in it before aligning it into the shelf between two books. Harry was obviously looking for something rare, but Louis couldn’t remember any books in here that had a history of being stolen, and especially no occult books. The fact that the man was so secretive about it made Louis’ stomach clench. There were some dangerous books in the library, but nothing that someone without a past in witchcraft could use. If Louis, someone born a witch and raised with magic, felt like destroying someone’s life with a spell, of course he could use a book from the library to do it.

Louis sighed and sat down at his desk. He didn’t want to go home quite yet, but he felt uneasy at the library, which was strange. He always felt the most comfortable here. He waved his hand and his mug of tea steadily floated over to him and a book he had been taking notes from came to land on his desk.

Opening the book, he continued to take notes on exotic spices that supposedly helped in dream work. His phone dinged, telling him he had a text message. 

_Can’t come in tomorrow, something came up. Enjoy a day off!—H_

Louis frowned a little, debating if he should even reply, then finally typed back a quick “Thanks,” before putting his phone away. He hoped everything was okay, and knew it couldn’t be related to Harry’s work, since he didn’t have a job. 

It didn’t dawn on him until he was unlocking the door to his house that night that he had never given Harry his phone number.

~

He called his mom. 

“Seriously, he’s just weird,” he said, after telling her about Harry. “Something just doesn’t add up with him, but I have no clue what.”

“Honey, quit being paranoid and just help the man find what he’s looking for,” she said, and Louis could practically _hear_ her eye roll over the phone. “He sounds like a normal, albeit rich, young man who’s trying his hand in a bit of family history.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Louis started, “I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to be looking for, and strange stuff has been—” He stopped, forgetting that he hasn’t told his mom about how the dreams have been getting more intense, and the feeling that something was making it’s way into his home at night while he slept.

“Stuff has been…?” she said, and Louis sighed.

“Nothing. I’m just stressed a lot lately, haven’t been getting much sleep.”

His mom hummed on the other end of the phone, knowing full well that her son was only telling part of the truth. “Get some rest, sweetie, you have a day off and you should use it.”

“Yes, mum.”

“Which means not going in to do research!”

“Of _course_ mum,” he said, smiling. “I’ll talk to you soon, love you.”

And he didn’t. He slept in and watched shit horror movies with Shadow until he couldn’t take it anymore, then he decided that it was a nice enough day to visit the moors and hooked the cat up to his leash and walked out the front door, laughing at Shadow’s excited meows.

It wasn’t a long walk, really, and he enjoyed being out in the cool air. The black cat ran ahead of him and tugged on his leash until they reached the path that wound through the moorland. He didn’t want to go far—just really wanted an excuse to get Shadow on his leash, and looked at his phone for the time. He had a text from Harry.

_Hope you’re enjoying today, I certainly am not. See you tomorrow!—H_

Louis shook his head, smiling, and pocketed his phone. He’d text him back when they got home.

~

The moors were beautiful, as always, and Louis remembered again why he moved here. They seemed almost magical, and he felt like a proper witch when he walked through them. He took Shadow’s leash off as soon as they got far in enough that they wouldn’t encounter other people or dogs, and the cat walked beside him leisurely, occasionally chirping up at him or rubbing against his leg. 

Louis wanted to go to the old abandoned castle a few miles ahead, maybe gather some dirt and rocks from there, but his stomach grumbled and Shadow stopped to look up at him. 

“Yeah yeah, I know you’re hungry, too, fatty,” he said, rolling his eyes when Shadow purred. “Just a bit farther, yeah? I’ll even carry you back.” He swore the cat rolled his eyes. 

The rest of the walk was uneventful. Perfect as far as Louis was concerned. They came up on the castle and Louis furrowed his brows. There was a… car? And the lights were on. He hadn’t even realized the place was for sale, but he hadn’t been out this far in months, and it was obvious that major renovations had been done. It looked livable and comfy, almost. Before, it was gloomy and almost creepy, but now it had a warm air to it, with cross-leaved heath and other flowers, pink and delicate. The grass was a vibrant green, and the windows leaked an orange light.

Sighing, Louis went to turn around, not wanting to stay on someone’s property for too long, when his phone began buzzing. He recognized Harry’s number.

“Sir?” he answered, hoping the man didn’t want him to come in at such a late hour. He was hungry and a bit tired.

“What are you and… you’re… cat? Doing on my property at such a weird time in the day? Are you stalking me?” he said, and Louis could hear the smile in his voice.

“What?” Louis said, looking around. “Where are you—wait… _You_ bought the castle?” He looked towards the home with wide eyes, blushing when he saw Harry on a balcony in a white, flowing robe. “Honestly, mate, how much money do you have?” 

Harry just laughed at waved at Louis to come over, hanging up and pocketing his cell phone. Louis did the same and smiled to himself, and began to walk over.

Shadow, on the other hand, ran. Thinking he had caught sight of a mouse, and not really wanting to deal with the clean up, Louis yelled and began to run after the cat. The familiar was meowing wildly, and Louis wasn’t looking at where he was going until he saw the cat jumping onto something white, meowing and purring. He looked up to see Harry smiling down at the cat. “What?” he asked, confused.

“Thought I’d come halfway and meet you,” Harry said, scratching at Shadow’s fur. “He’s a cutie.”

“He’s not like that with new people… he ran up like he knew you,” Louis said, still a bit dumfounded at his cat, who was staring up at Harry like a long lost friend.

“Hmm… maybe in a past life,” Harry muttered, and Louis sucked in a quick breath of air. “Would you like to come in for tea?” 

“I… sure,” the librarian said, watching as Harry turned around and started back to his house. “You really don’t have to, I was actually about to go home—”

“Come in, please, I’d very much enjoy it if you did.”

Louis sighed and nodded, then followed Harry, who was still holding _his_ cat, to the large estate. “When did you move here?” he asked.

Harry opened the door and put Shadow down so he could explore, turning back to Louis, he said, “A few months ago. Renovations were a pain but worth it in the end.” Louis looked around and hummed an agreement, eyes sparkling with the beauty of the home. “I’m guessing you don’t live far?”

“Just a few miles, actually, and a few blocks from the library. I used to come out here a lot and relax, but I was caught off guard when I saw someone was actually living here,” he said, looking back to Harry. “You’ve been here a few months, but yet I’ve never seen you in town.”

“I like to keep to myself,” Harry muttered, and Louis noticed the green of his eyes, their gaze deep and almost powerful. They looked familiar, but Louis didn’t want to think about it. There was no way—

“I’ve lived everywhere, but here has been my favorite so far.” Harry walked towards what Louis presumed to be the kitchen to get their tea. The wooden floors were shiny, and there was a fire going in the sitting area. “Go ahead and sit, I’ll be back in a few minutes with our tea.”

Louis sat down on the maroon sofa and looked around more. The fire was warm and crackling, and the room was spacious and open. There were no pictures on the wall. “Do you have Yorkshire?” Louis called to Harry.

“Of course I have Yorkshire, silly.” Harry called back, and Shadow jumped up into Louis’ lap. “It’s your favorite, right?”

There was no way he had told his boss about his tea preferences. No _fucking_ way. Unless he did. Louis didn’t really remember. Maybe Harry noticed him making himself tea in the library. Squinting his eyes, he lifted Shadow to his face, saying “You told him, didn’t you, you little traitor of a familiar!”

Shadow purred and rubbed his face up onto Louis’ nose. Walking back in, Harry gave them a smile. “Where you two talking about me behind my back?” Louis flushed and sat Shadow down, taking a hold of the steaming cup of tea Harry offered him.

Taking a sip, Louis let out a quiet, appreciative moan. “Just right, mate, how’d you know?”

“Saw you making it in the library a time or two, put in a little bit of extra spark for you,” Harry replied, winking and cheeky. Louis rolled his eyes and took another sip. Harry sat down across from him, staring at him and smiling.

“You are too cute.”

Louis sputtered on his tea, and Shadow mewled loudly. He wanted to go along with it, to maybe flirt a bit and maybe even reach over to playfully pat his hand on Harry’s knee… but, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he remembered _him_ , and felt guilt wash over him. He didn’t even know if this man was real, but he felt connected to him, like he belonged to the man and the man belonged to him. 

Harry was staring at him, a fond smile on his lips. “I shouldn’t say those things, I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. _You’re not_ , Louis thought—could tell from the sparkle in his eyes when he looked back up at his employee. “But sometimes I can’t control my tongue.”

 _Tongue_. Louis’ thoughts immediately went to the sultry tongue that Harry was currently licking his lips with. How it would feel against his skin, his lips, his—

He cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea. He didn’t want to have those thoughts about Harry, or anyone other than the man from his dreams, really. He felt childish, waiting for his _dream_ , but he knew that’s what he was meant to do. 

“I should probably get going,” he said, setting his cup down. “It’s a bit of a walk back to my house, and I don’t want to be in the moors after the sun goes down.” Harry seemed to pout for a second, but soon schooled his features and nodded.

“Would you like a ride? It will only take a few minutes?” 

Louis shook his head. He wanted to walk alone for a while, be only in the company of his familiar and his thoughts. He needed to clear his head. “I’ll be fine, really.”

Getting up, Harry waited for Louis to gather Shadow up in his arms—he _promised_ the cat that he would carry him back, and the fluffball was already purring and falling asleep—and led him to the door. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Louis said, smiling at Harry and walking out the door. “Have a good night, Harry.”

Harry smiled at him, then, but Louis could see sadness in his eyes.

~

When Louis got home, he ran himself a bath and lit some candles. Sprinkling lavender into the water, he closed his eyes, imagining the water becoming hot when the herb hit it, and when he opened them, steam was rising off of the top of the water, and it was a slight purple color. Shadow walked in as he undressed an folded his clothes, and the cat jumped on the ledge of the bathtub as the witch slowly eased himself into the large tup, sighing at the feeling of hot water on his tired muscles and the scent of lavender filling his nose.

The lavender was for relaxation and healing sleep, which Louis felt he needed after the day of walking and awkward conversations. His bath was big enough for him to stretch out completely in it, and soon he went to work with a washcloth, rubbing gently and speaking old words of magic first at his legs, then stomach, and finally at his arms and chest. He pressed a wet thumb against Shadow’s head, then leaned in to set his lips on the cat and gave him a quick kiss after whispering a few happy words.

Shadow meowed and jumped off the counter, giving Louis’ a dirty look and swiping his paw on his face. Laughing, Louis splashed a bit of water at him, causing the cat to scurry out of the room, most likely going to find a warm spot in Louis’ bed. Closing his eyes, Louis thought back to Harry and bit his lip. What was that man up to? And out of all the libraries, what was so special about this one? Louis knew that Harry thought what he was looking for was in there, but he was so cryptic, and Louis didn’t have a clue as to what his actual goal was.

The fact that he moved all the way out to the small village was strange to Louis, too. The man seemed to have enough money, why didn’t he just hire someone to come and look for the book for him? Surely he had better things to do than sit in an old musky library, searching for god knows what. 

Louis couldn’t keep his mind off of him, it seemed. Whether he was questioning what the man was doing, or thinking of his pouty lips, the witch was under _his_ spell. Sighing, Louis opened his eyes and decided it was time for bed.

When he had dried off and thrown on a pair of loose sweats, he went to his bedroom and snuggled in with Shadow. The cat purred and pressed closer to him, happy to have his body heat warm him up. Louis smiled and closed his eyes, and hoped that his dreams tonight would shed some light on his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr!
> 
> larrywitch.tumblr.com


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